Moscow: Russia is ready to hold peace talks with Ukraine "without preconditions", President Vladimir Putin told US envoy Steve Witkoff at a meeting on Friday, the Kremlin said Saturday.

"During yesterday's talks with Trump's envoy Witkoff, Vladimir Putin reiterated that Russia is ready to resume negotiations with Ukraine without any preconditions," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, adding that Putin has stated that several times in the past.

The Russian president has regularly set out his demands on the regarding Ukraine, which include control of the five Ukrainian regions that Moscow claims to have annexed, Ukraine's renunciation of NATO membership and its demilitarisation.

More broadly, Putin views the conflict as a "hybrid war" waged by NATO against Russia and wants to overhaul Europe's security architecture, particularly the positioning of NATO forces based near Russia's borders.

Putin and Witkoff on Friday discussed the possibility of direct talks between Russia and Ukraine during a three-hour meeting in Moscow, which was described by a Kremlin aide as constructive.

‘May be he doesn't want to stop war’, Trump trains his gun on Putin
US President Donald Trump on Saturday criticised Russian President Vladimir Putin for attacks on civilian areas of Ukraine in recent days, and said "maybe he doesn't want to stop the war."

In a post on Truth Social after his talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Rome, Trump also said maybe Putin "has to be dealt with differently," possibly through additional sanctions targeting Moscow.

"There was no reason for Putin to be shooting missiles into civilian areas, cities and towns, over the last few days," Trump said in the post.

"It makes me think that maybe he doesn't want to stop the war, he's just tapping me along, and has to be dealt with differently, through 'Banking' or 'Secondary Sanctions?' Too many people are dying!!!"

Russia and Ukraine have not held direct talks on the fighting since the start of Moscow's offensive in 2022. The conflict has devastated swathes of eastern Ukraine and killed tens of thousands of people.